It's More Than Friendship
by YuriCore
Summary: There has always been something special between Shinobu and Alice, but until now, neither girl has been able to pinpoint what it is. (Yuri cuteness! Yay!)


Shinobu walked into her room to find Alice sitting on the floor, practicing writing Japanese kanji characters. She was sticking her tongue out in concentration, copying from a textbook beside her. When she noticed Shinobu, her face seemed to light up. "Oh, Shino! You're back from the grocery store!" She ran up to Shinobu and hugged her as if she hadn't seen her in weeks.

Shinobu smiled and hugged her back. "Hello, Alice," she said.

"I've been practicing my Japanese writing!" said Alice. She excitedly grabbed her paper and held it up for Shinobu to see. "See, Shino!?"

"Wow, better than me," said Shinobu.

"Oh, that's not true!" said Alice, blushing. "I need to practice more..." She walked back to her paper and kneeled on the floor.

"Hey, um, Alice," said Shinobu. "The new amusement park is opening up tomorrow, and I was going to ask you-"

"If I want to go?" Alice said, jumping back up. "Yes!"

"Okay," said Shinobu, smiling at Alice's enthusiasm. "Let me call the others and see if they're free tomorrow." She walked out of the room to get the phone, but Alice ran up and grabbed her back.

"Alice?" said Shinobu.

"Couldn't we go just the two of us!?" said Alice.

"What?" said Shinobu. "I... I guess so... You don't even want Karen there?"

"No, I think it's more special if it's just the two of us!" said Alice.

Shinobu slowly started to smile again. "Okay, Alice. I suppose we always hang out with them anyway... Maybe it's best to mix it up..."

"Yes!" said Alice. She giggled and hugged Shinobu again. "Shino no koto ga daisuki!" _I love you, Shino!_

"I love you too, Alice," said Shinobu, blushing and hugging her friend back.

At this point, everyone knew Shinobu and Alice had a very special friendship. It was as if the two of them could communicate telepathically, yet there were some things they couldn't communicate. Even as the two stood hand in hand, speaking so lovingly to one another, they did not know how to express their strong feelings. They could only do what they knew, even if they crossed some sort of line in some of their declarations.

 _"Today you're as bright as the sun!"_

 _"I'd love you even if you didn't have blonde hair!"_

 _"Today, during introductions, I told everyone how amazing you are!"_

All the while, shining like gold.

The next day, at the amusement park, Shinobu and Alice would make sense of their special friendship.

"What do you want to ride first, Shino?" said Alice. She wore a pastel pink spring dress, her hair in its usual style with the pin Shinobu gave her, and walked with large steps beside her friend.

"How about the teacups?" said Shinobu, pointing.

"Oh, teacups!" said Alice. "Let's go!" She started running.

The two girls reached the teacups and jumped into one of them, both simultaneously grabbing the rotator in the middle.

"Let's spin to the right!" said Alice.

"Let's spin to the left!" said Shinobu.

The girls tried to spin the teacup in both directions at once, but of course, the teacup would not move. Eventually, Alice decided to turn it the same way as Shinobu, and the teacup spun quickly around and around.

"Ah, it's too fast!" said Alice, laughing loudly.

"Let's go faster!" said Shinobu. The girls spun and spun until they were going as fast as they could. At that moment, the ride ended, and everyone began getting out of their teacups. Shinobu and Alice quickly hopped out and ran back to the road. Dizzy, they struggled to walk straight, and Alice cried out as she fell backwards and landed in Shinobu's expecting arms.

"Careful, Alice," said Shinobu, smiling.

"Thank you, Shino," said Alice, smiling in return. Alice stood back up on her pink sandals and walked forward. "Where to next?"

"Let's ride a rollercoaster," said Shinobu.

"What? You're not afraid of rollercoasters?" said Alice.

"I am, a little," said Shinobu. "But I think we should face our fears together!"

Alice suddenly felt reassured. "Okay! Let's do it together!"

Shinobu and Alice had to wait in line for almost ten minutes to get on the rollercoaster. The whole wait, Alice tightly held Shinobu's hand, the girls' fingers intertwined. Alice could feel her body quivering, but Shinobu's firm grip seemed to calm her somehow. Soon, they reached the front of the line.

Shinobu and Alice sat beside each other, and Alice grabbed Shinobu's arm and squeezed it tight. Shinobu held the metal bar. The ride started moving, and Alice let out a high-pitched scream as she and Shinobu disappeared into a dark tunnel.

When Shinobu and Alice got off of the rollercoaster, Shinobu's arm was pink from being held so tightly. Alice wouldn't stop shaking.

"Shino, I'm so sorry!" said Alice.

"It's okay," said Shinobu. "We won't ride any more rollercoasters. Let's go get something to eat."

Alice cheered up. "Okay!"

Shinobu and Alice bought some cotton candy. Shinobu got the white kind and Alice got the pink kind. They sat together eating it on a wooden bench near the food vendors.

"I love cotton candy," said Alice.

Shinobu giggled. "Alice, you have cotton candy on your nose."

"Oh?" Alice wiped off the cotton candy. "Heh, that's embarrassing."

"Hey, Alice, let's ride the ferris wheel after this," said Shinobu.

"Okay," said Alice. "Sure."

The ferris wheel was on the other side of the amusement park, and Shinobu and Alice had to walk past many things to reach it. One thing they passed was a ring toss game that was giving out stuffed rabbits as prizes.

"Oh, so cute!" said Alice.

"What?" said Shinobu.

"That bunny is soooo cute!" Alice squealed.

"Oh, the prize bunny?" said Shinobu. "I'll win it for you, Alice."

"Really!?" said Alice, and her face lit up as it often did around Shinobu. "Thank you~!"

Shinobu walked up and held out some yen. "I'd like to play, please."

"Sure," said the man at the counter. He took the money and gave Shinobu five rings. "Just get one and you can have this stuffed rabbit."

"Got it," said Shinobu. She focused, and threw the ring. It missed.

"Again, Shino!" said Alice. "You can do it!"

"Thanks, Alice," said Shinobu. She threw the second ring, and missed again.

"C'mon, c'mon!" said Alice.

Shinobu finished throwing all five rings, and not a single one landed on the pole. Alice looked very sad.

"That's too bad," said the man at the counter. "Better luck next time."

"You did your best, Shino," said Alice, grabbing Shinobu's hand.

"No, I won't give up that easily!" said Shinobu.

"Shino..." said Alice.

Shinobu grabbed out more yen and placed it on the counter. "I'm going to try again!"

Five games later, Shinobu won. She proudly pulled the stuffed rabbit down from the display rack and held it out to Alice.

"Oh, Shino!" Alice grabbed the stuffed rabbit and hugged it tightly, burying her face in it. "You spent so much money for this!"

"Oh, not really," said Shinobu, blushing.

"No, you're always so nice to me!" said Alice, hugging Shinobu with the rabbit squeezed between them. "Letting me stay in your house, giving me so many presents, always cheering me up when I'm sad." She was almost in tears. "You're the best friend in the whole wide world, Shino! You make me so happy!"

Shinobu hugged Alice tightly. "It's because I love you, Alice. That's just what friends do."

"But you're a very special friend!" said Alice. "Karen has never made me feel quite like this." She finally let go of Shinobu. "Come on now, let's ride the ferris wheel."

Soon, the two girls were sitting together on the ferris wheel, quietly, side by side, right against each other. When Shinobu spoke, Alice's heart raced.

"Alice, I think of you as more than just my friend," said Shinobu. "I don't know how to say this, but..."

"Just tell me," said Alice, hugging Shinobu's arm.

"Well, it's not that I'm afraid to say it," said Shinobu, and Alice sensed her lie. "It's just that... I don't know how to put this into words..."

"Maybe you can describe it," said Alice, "and I'll understand."

"Okay," said Shinobu. "Well..." She sat up a little straighter. "Well, Alice... you make me feel... happy. No, more than happy. Oh, what word am I looking for... I guess you kinda make me feel... special. I know you care about me so much... It feels so nice, Alice. I don't know how else to explain it to you, but..."

Alice rested her head on Shinobu's shoulder. "Shino..." she whispered. Shinobu shivered, and wrapped her arms around Alice instinctively. Alice leaned in towards Shinobu's face, and both girls' hearts pounded as their lips touched.

They stayed like that for several seconds. Shinobu's left hand was in Alice's right hand, Shinobu's right hand was lying down on the seat, and Alice's left hand was near Shinobu's right side. Alice pulled the rest of her body closer so that their chests were touching, and Shinobu's right hand reached up to touch Alice's soft blonde hair. They didn't know why they were doing this, or why it felt so natural to them, but all that mattered in that moment was doing what felt right.

Then, Shinobu and Alice pulled away. Both immediately blushed and looked away from each other. It was a while before either girl could speak.

"I'm sorry," said Alice.

"What?" said Shinobu. "Sorry?"

"Two girls don't kiss," said Alice. "Girls kiss boys."

"Not me," said Shinobu. "I'll never kiss a boy. I'd rather kiss you."

Alice frowned. "But isn't that..."

"I don't care what anyone else thinks," said Shinobu. "I'm really happy when I'm around you. And especially happy, it seems, when I kiss you."

"Friends don't kiss..." said Alice.

"We're more than friends though, aren't we?" said Shinobu.

"Maybe," said Alice, biting her lip.

"Let's kiss again," said Shinobu. She pulled Alice close again, and as the two kissed, a rainbow stretched across the sky. Afterwards, the two laughed happily together.

 _I came all the way across the ocean to see Shino,_ thought Alice. _It was totally worth it._

The two left the amusement park hand in hand, Alice talking happily, and Shinobu nodding and smiling. The golden sun shined down, and the fresh spring air smelled like flowers. Alice smelled like cotton candy, and the world was bright and alive.

"Are we going out now, Shino?" said Alice.

"I suppose so," said Shinobu.

"What will the others think? Since we're both girls and all..."

"They won't mind. Aya especially seems to understand these kinds of things."

"Oh, yeah! Aya will be able to relate," said Alice, grinning. "You're right about that."

"Yup." Shinobu nodded. "They'll all be happy for us."

That night, Alice hugged her pillow tightly, pretending that it was Shinobu. But it wasn't as cuddly as Shinobu, and Alice soon stood up and shook Shinobu gently to wake her. "Shino, Shino," she said.

Shinobu rolled over. "Hm? What is it?"

Alice blushed and squeezed her pillow. "Can I sleep next to you?"

Shinobu smiled warmly. "Of course."

Alice lifted the blanket and got under it, then snuggled up next to Shinobu. Shinobu cuddled her back.

 _"Shino no koto ga daisuki."_

 _"I love you more, Alice."_


End file.
